Burning Love
by Copper's Mama
Summary: Rachel/Puck fic. Puck takes Jesse's sing-off challenge. Based on the Elvis song of the same name. Please read and review!


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_A Rachel/Puck fic._

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_Disclaimer: Nope, don't own Glee. I'm nowhere near that awesome. Also, don't own "Burning Love", Elvis Presley remains the master of that one. _

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_A/N: So, I got the inspiration for this fic after watching the last episode of Glee. While I am beginning to like Jesse's character, and (not-so-secretly) hope that he ends up actually falling for Rachel and decides to say "screw you" to Shelby and Vocal Adrenaline ... I'm a Puckleberry girl at heart. _

_So, in this fic, Puck takes Jesse up on the challenged "sing-off". _

_I hope you guys like this, I know I'll love writing it! _

_As always, please read and review, I live for feedback! _

* * *

If you asked him why he'd done it, he'd claim temporary insanity. He had no reason to want to do this ... he had Quinn now. Sure, Quinn still stared at Finn every time she thought he wasn't looking, and he flirted with the other girls to try and make her jealous. Okay, so they didn't have the most functional of relationships, but it was high school? Was there ever such thing as a functional, high school relationship?

Whether there was or there wasn't, he had no reason for wanting to face off with Jesse St James in the school parking lot. And yet, there he was, guitar in hand while watching the freaky-haired dude that did look considerably like Mr Shue perform his song. The crowd they'd drawn enjoyed the performance, and Puck was beginning to think he'd made a mistake.

_Beginning to think?_ he cursed internally. _You knew this was stupid the moment you opened your pie-hole!_

Jesse walked confidently over to Puck, smirking and saying, "Beat that, Mohawk," before sauntering back over to Rachel who was looking at Puck with confusion in her eyes.

Puck ran through the list of songs he knew he could play well on the guitar, trying to decide on one that would fit the situation, as well as be good enough to beat Jesse. With a last glance at Rachel he finally decided on one, walking over to the band members who'd scrambled outside as soon as they heard about the sing-off and telling them the song and their cues.

He moved into the space they'd cleared for the singing and took a breath before beginning his song. His fingers strummed the chords easily, dancing back and forth across the strings, and he saw Rachel watching him with pursed lips before he opened his mouth to sing.

"_Lord almighty, I feel my temperature rising. _

_Higher and higher, it's burning through to my soul._"

Puck stepped closer to Rachel while he played, acutely aware of everyone's eyes on him.

"_Girl, girl, girl, you gonna set me on fire. _

_My brain is flaming. _

_I don't know which way to go._"

He was aware of the truth to words he was singing, and poured more of himself into the song as he went, not looking away from Rachel's widening eyes.

_"Your kisses lift me higher. _

_Like the sweet song of a choir. _

_You light my morning sky, with burning love._

Without having to signal them, some of the other glee club members - Kurt, Mercedes, Artie, Tina, Brittany, and Santana joined in, singing back-up for him.

_"Ooh, ooh, ooh, I feel my temperature rising. _

_Help me, I'm flaming, I must be a hundred and nine. _

_Burning, burning, burning, and nothing can cool me. _

_I just might turn into smoke, _

_But I feel fine."_

He thought about throwing Jesse a dirty look as drew closer but then thought better of it, setting for winking at Rachel as he passed her and then turned back around to sing to the rest of the crowd, wanting to cool himself off.

"_'Cause your kisses lift me higher. _

_Like a sweet song of a choir. _

_And you light my morning sky," _he turned back around for a moment to look at Rachel_, "with burning love."_

A few of the other Cheerios began dancing around behind him, getting into the song with bright smiles on their faces. Quinn glanced between him and Rachel with an upset look on her face, but she couldn't maintain it when she saw that Finn looked less upset about it than she thought he would.

Puck strummed the chords powerfully on his guitar, the rest of the band playing along with him.

"_It's coming closer, the flames are now reaching my body. _

_Please won't you help me, I feel like I'm slipping away. _

_It's hard to breath. _

_And my chest is a-heaving."_

He threw his head back while he sang, smiling into the words.

"_Lord almighty, _

_I'm burning a hole where I lay! _

_'Cause your kisses lift me higher,_" he sang, eyeing her knowingly.

_"Like the sweet song of a choir. _

_You light my morning sky, with burning love. _

_With burning love. _

_Ah, burning love! _

_I'm just a hunk, a hunk of burning love! _

_Just a hunk, a hunk of burning love! _

_I'm just a hunk, a hunk of burning love!"_

He finished the song with a long final note, stroking the strings dramatically and letting the sound die out.

The crowd exploded around him, a few of the football guys who didn't think glee was so horrible came and clapped him on the back, whooping and cheering with the rest of the students.

Jesse looked visibly disappointed, as the crowd let him know that he had lost the sing-off, but Puck only had eyes for Rachel, who was currently looking at him as though he'd just run over her dog ... if she had a dog.

She shook Jesse's arm off, glancing at Puck once more with sad eyes before running off to her car.

Puck began to follow her but Quinn stepped in front of him, and he knew he had some explaining to do.

* * *

Puck wasn't the type of guy to stand outside some chick's window and throw rocks until she stuck her head out ... it was too soapy for him. But he wasn't about to knock on her front door either, so he opted for scaling the tree outside her room. It didn't help that it had rained earlier, and he slipped every other step, but eventually made his way up, most of his clothing wet and covered in tree-grime.

He glanced in the window, seeing her standing in front of her mirror. He hadn't seen Jesse's vehicle outside anywhere, so he assumed the flamboyant singer wasn't in there. Sighing, he reached out and rapped lightly on the glass.

Rachel whipped her head around, her hair cascading over her shoulder in response to the turn, and he had to catch himself before thinking how beautiful she had looked at that moment.

Rachel rushed over to the window, pulling it up and helping him in. "What are you doing here, Noah?" she asked worriedly, shutting the window again behind her.

She was one of the few people he allowed to call him by his first name. "I, uh ..." _Where to start?_

She glanced down at his clothing, tisking before flouncing into the bathroom and grabbing a towel for him to use. "You're going to catch a cold, and that will be traumatizing to your voice," she informed him. "You should drink plenty of warm liquids, and see a doctor immediately if you start to feel congested."

Puck nodded, taking the towel and starting to dry himself off. "Okay ..."

Rachel sat down on the edge of her bed, looking at him warily. "Why are you here?" she asked him again.

Puck shrugged. "I dunno ... wanted to talk or something."

Rachel nodded. "Right ... which means that you've come to gloat."

Puck narrowed his eyes, looking at her in confusion. "Gloat about what?"

She snorted. "What, you haven't heard?"

Puck remained silent.

Rachel fought the tears that threatened to spill out of her eyes, glaring at the boy standing in front of her. "Jesse was just using me," she informed him. "He was supposed to get close to me so that he could screw up our chances at Regionals. And it would have worked too, but I told him that I couldn't see him anymore, and I guess that messed up his master plan."

Puck's eyes widened, not because he was surprised that Jesse had been playing her, but because she had been the one to end it. "Um ... sorry."

Rachel scoffed, crossing her arms in a huff. "You're _sorry_? That's just great, Noah. I'll be sure to remember that."

"Why are you so upset? I mean, if you were the one that broke up with him ..."

"Because I broke up with him because I still have feelings for you! And that's such a stupid road to go down, because you'll get bored with me, and I'll end up hurt, and you go and sing that song for me, and you can't just keep messing with my head like this! I mean, you and Quinn are having a baby, and you're singing such wonderful things to me? You're making me crazy, Noah!"

Puck crouched down, dropping the towel and making her look at him. "Things with Quinn ... she's getting back with Finn. We talked earlier, and she knows that I still have feelings for you, and she and Finn wanna try and work things out."

Rachel eyed him in surprise. "What about the baby?"

Puck shook his head. "I'll still be a part of her life, I won't let that change ... but me and Quinn, we were never gonna work out."

Rachel sat in silence, staring at him and working through everything he was telling her.

He reached out slowly and traced her cheek with his hand.

"I can't take a chance on you and get burned," she told him breathily.

Puck chuckled. "Hey, remember who broke up with who last time."

Rachel nodded, allowing herself a small smile. "Okay, you have a point there. So, let's both agree not to be stupid, and things should be ok."

Puck nodded. "I think I can deal with that."

After a moment Rachel leaned forward and tentatively brushed her lips against his. Puck responded eagerly, but kept himself in check, not wanting to scare her off.

When they finally pulled away to breathe, Rachel's eyes were glazed over and Puck had a smile on his face.

"What?" Rachel asked him, staring at his smile.

Puck only grinned wider. "Your kisses _do_ lift me higher."

Rachel rolled her eyes, gripped the collar of his shirt and pulling him onto the bed with her.

* * *

_The end. _

_Hope you guys liked it, I know I loved writing it. _

_Reviews are appreciated, flame if you must, but constructive criticism is much more useful. _

_Until next time ...! _


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